Last month, Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin chose Quinn Hughes, bringing the star defenseman to the Wild in an effort to produce big wins in May and even June. On Friday, in his role as Team USA’s general manager for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics, Guerin chose Hughes again.

The American roster which will seek the nation’s first gold medal since the 1980 Miracle On Ice will include three players with whom Guerin is quite familiar, with Hughes, defenseman Brock Faber and forward Matt Boldy headed to Milan and Cortina for the games.

Faber, who is from Maple Grove, was among four Minnesotans picked for the squad, which is quite similar to the 4 Nations Face-Off roster Guerin put together a year ago. That team brought home a silver medal after falling to Canada in overtime of the title game. Other Minnesotans headed to the Olympics include Colorado forward Brock Nelson (Warroad), Tampa Bay forward Jake Guentzel (Woodbury) and Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger (Lakeville).

More than anything, Guerin said, the U.S. was looking for a similar chemistry to what they saw in the Team USA locker room and on the ice at 4 Nations 11 months ago.

“I liked the way we played. Everybody was together. Everybody played the right way, adhered to the game plan,” Guerin said in a Zoom call with reporters on Friday morning. “But the biggest thing for me, I think, was the chemistry. The chemistry allowed the guys to play the way they did.”

The trio of Americans from the Wild will see several teammates chasing gold in Italy. Team Sweden will include goalies Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt, defenseman Jonas Brodin and forward Joel Eriksson Ek. There had been some hope that Marcus Johansson, having a superlative season for the Wild, would be named to the Swedish roster. He was not.

Wild center Nico Sturm will play for Team Germany, giving Minnesota eight NHLers in the Games. There is a chance that a few Wild minor-leaguers could be named to national teams as well. Defenseman David Jiricek, who has split time between Minnesota and Iowa, is a candidate for Team Czechia.

Hughes, who came to the Wild in a December trade, will be looked upon to bring some of the same attributes to the Americans as are currently being seen on the Minnesota blue line.

“His skating is fantastic, his ability to help us get out of our own zone and to move the puck up the ice as quick as possible by either skating it or moving it quickly,” Guerin said. “He always seems to be one step ahead. I know what he’s done for our Wild team and I think it’s been incredible.”

Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan was asked if he will continue to pair Hughes and Faber, as the Wild do, but replied that nothing it etched in stone.

In addition to Guerin’s work picking the team, Wild head coach John Hynes will be an assistant for Sullivan — currently the head coach of the New York Rangers — and three members of the Wild medical team will be in Italy, as well.

Among those who opened some eyes but did not make the team were defenseman Adam Fox and forward Jason Robertson, who is currently one of the top American scorers in the NHL. Guerin did not entertain questions about specific players and why they were not selected.

“Those guys are all great players, too,” he said, noting that if statistics alone were the only criteria for making the roster, there would be no need for a general manager. “I understand that, but we have to make a team.”

Former Gophers star Matthew Knies, who skated for Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, also was left off the roster.

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By MELANIE LIDMAN

DIMONA, Israel (AP) — During the two years he was held captive in Gaza, Segev Kalfon had a recurring dream: slowly walking through a supermarket, browsing each aisle for his favorite foods, taking in the brightly colored packages and smells.

Since being released on Oct. 13, his dreams have flipped: Most nights when he closes his eyes, he is back on a dirty piece of foam mattress in the 2-square-meter (22-square-foot) room in a Hamas tunnel where he was kept with five other hostages, counting each tile and crack in the cement to distract himself from severe hunger and near-daily physical torture.

“I was in the lowest place a person can be before death, the lowest. I had no control over anything, when to eat, when to shower, how much I want to eat,” said Kalfon, 27. During the worst parts of captivity, he was so skinny he could count the individual vertebrae jutting from his spine.

Now that he’s back home in Dimona in southern Israel, Kalfon is trying to piece together a post-captivity life. He spends much of his time juggling appointments with an array of doctors and psychologists.

One of the strangest aspects of his release, Kalfon said, is that for two years, his entire life revolved around trying to please his captors, so they might share more food or spare a beating. Now that he’s out, “everyone is trying to please me,” he said.

From a family bakery to a Hamas tunnel

Before being taken hostage at the Nova music festival, Kalfon worked at his family’s bakery in the town of Arad and was studying finance and investments.

When rockets started flying at the start of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, Kalfon said he and his closest friend tried to help others at the festival escape. Kalfon remembers pleading with a group of people who had taken cover in a yellow dumpster, telling them to come with him, that they were in a death trap. For two years, Kalfon wondered what happened to them. After his release, he learned they were all killed.

Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages during their cross-border assault that day. Israel’s ensuing offensive has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

While in captivity, every moment “felt like an eternity,” Kalfon said. The only thing that broke up the monotony was a meager portion of food and water once a day.

There were so many times he felt close to death: during frequent bombardment by the Israeli military, going through COVID and other illnesses with no medicine, enduring starvation and frequent physical torture. He said his captors used bicycle chains as whips and pummeled the hostages while wearing large rings to leave painful welts.

“We didn’t even have energy to yell out, because no one hears you,” he said. “You’re in a tunnel 30 meters underground; no one knows what’s going on.”

The worst part was the last three months of his captivity, Kalfon said, when he was kept in isolation and felt like he was losing his sanity.

In the darkest places, faith brings a ray of light

Both Kalfon and his family, advocating in Israel for his release, further turned to their Jewish faith to get through the dark times. Kalfon’s family filled their homes with additional Jewish books, ritual objects and prayers from senior rabbis.

Kalfon and the other five hostages made a tradition of marking the start of Jewish holidays or the Sabbath by saying prayers over a bit of water and moldy pita.

The hostages used a square of precious toilet paper, where one roll had to last six people for two months, for the ritual skullcap that Jewish men traditionally wear during prayers.

A radio the captors had given to the hostages in hopes of converting them to Islam through recordings of the Quran sometimes allowed them to capture signals from Israeli news.

Once, when Kalfon was at his lowest and considering an escape attempt, which likely would have led to his death, he turned on the radio and heard his mother’s voice. He said it felt like a divine message to hold on for a little longer.

“I was living in the body of a dead person, living in a grave,” Kalfon said. “To get out of this grave, it’s nothing else if not a miracle.”

Kalfon was released along with 19 other living hostages as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. He considers U.S. President Donald Trump a “messenger from God,” sure that no one else could have halted the fighting. His family has hung nearly a dozen American flags around the house in recognition of the U.S. contribution to his return.

‘War is starting with my soul’

Since his return, Kalfon is getting used to a new life, one where he is famous after his name and face were broadcast across Israel during the fight to release the hostages.

“Everyone wants to support me and say, ‘You’re such a hero,’” Kalfon said. “I don’t feel like a hero. Every person would want to survive.”

Kalfon knows he has a long journey to recovery after his years in captivity and a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis from before he was taken hostage.

“Although the war in Gaza is over, now my war is starting with my soul, to try to deal with thoughts that are very difficult,” he said.

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He tries to keep his schedule busy to distract himself.

“But every night when I’m alone, it comes up,” Kalfon said. Even a small noise can startle him awake and thrust him into a terrifying flashback, so he barely sleeps.

For the immediate future, he wants to share his story more widely. He said he has been shocked by the rise in global antisemitism and anti-Israel fervor since he was captured and wants to make sure people hear his story, especially those who tore down posters of the hostages or accuse Israel of lying.

“I’m proof that it happened,” he said. “I felt it with my body. I saw it with my own eyes.”

Associated Press writer Sam Mednick contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.

The Gophers have had 19 total players from its 2025 roster share intent to enter the transfer portal when it opened on Friday.

Minnesota has one clear-cut headliner in that group: all-Big Ten sophomore safety Koi Perich. And two other key players from last year’s team: redshirt sophomore cornerback Za’Quan Bryan and redshirt freshman running back Fame Ijeboi.

The majority of this group were role players, little-used backups, hardly-knew-ye freshmen or walk-ons.

Here’s a synopsis on who is leaving:

Star

Koi Perich, safety
Total snaps: 1,213 defense/338 special teams/45 offense

The two-time All-Big Ten performer rocked the program and its fanbase with his decision to enter the portal going public late Thursday night. The Esko, Minn., native was outstanding as a true freshman in 2024 (five interceptions and and 46 tackles), but wasn’t as sharp last fall (one pick and 82 tackles). His overall grade from Pro Football Focus also dipped from 88.9 to 62.4. After gaining 26 games of experience at the U, including as a kick and punt returner and on offense, he likely will spend his upperclassman year(s) at a school contenting for a spot in next year’s College Football Playoff.

Key players

Za’Quan Bryan, cornerback
Total snaps: 731 defense/226 special teams

The Savanah, Ga., native moved into the starting lineup in 2025 and totaled 36 tackles and three pass break-ups in 11 games. He played through a shoulder injury in November. In spot duty in 2024, Bryan had a 73.1 overall grade from PFF in 266 snaps, but that mark went to 60.3 in 440 last fall. He played in 24 total games at Minnesota.

Fame Ijeboi, running back
Total snaps: 220 offense

The 6-foot, 210-pound tailback from Folcroft, Pa., stepped up when starter Darius Taylor was sidelined during the 2025 season and finished with 461 yards on 97 carries (4.5-yard average) and two touchdowns last fall. He added 12 receptions for 54 yards and one TD. The depth and experience in the Gophers’ running back room took a hit when he decided to move on.

Role players

Malachi Coleman, receiver
Total snaps: 174 offense

The Nebraska transfer receiver didn’t play any snaps against FBS competition until Week 7 against Purdue last fall and finished the season with five receptions for 83 yards in eight games. The 6-foot-5 target and former four-star prospect from Lincoln, Neb., will be looking for his third school this winter.

Kenric Lanier, receiver
Total snaps: 218 offense 

One of the top recruits in the Gophers’ 2023 recruiting class had only three receptions for 79 yards in 10 games in 2025 and one grab for 17 yards in 2024. The 6-foot-1 Decatur, Ga., native has two years of eligibility remaining.

Notables

The Gophers’ quarterback in the 2025 class, Jackson Kollock of Laguna Beach, Calif., was a scout-team standout last fall, but didn’t see any game action and will immediately seek his second school. … Washington transfer offensive lineman Kahlee Tafai is taking off after playing sparingly in four games last year. … Quentin Redding of Menomonee Falls., Wis., was a key kick and punt returner at the U from 2021-23 and played in 35 total games at the U. … Penn State transfer Cristian Driver, the son of Packers wideout Donald Driver, didn’t play in 2025 after having seven receptions in 11 games in 2024. … Massive offensive tackle Reese Tripp of Mantorville, Minn., played a bit in three games a year ago. … True freshman Legend Lyons of Corvina, Calif., is gone; the receiver didn’t see the field last fall. … Freshman running back Johann Cardenas, a transfer from Vanderbilt, immediately left the U program in August. … True freshman tailback Tre Berry parted ways with the team in November.

Walk-ons

These players have also exited: redshirt sophomore defensive back Ethan Carrier from Detroit Lakes; redshirt sophomore punter Caleb McGrath from Eastview High School; redshirt freshman defensive back Harrison Brun from Rockford High School; redshirt sophomore linebacker Drew Wilson from Mequon, Wis.; redshirt senior kicker David Kemp from Jacksonville, Fla.; and redshirt junior punter Brody Richter from Scottsdale, Ariz.

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In the lead-up to St. Paul’s Nov. 4 mayoral election, then-state Rep. Kaohly Her issued a campaign mailer that promised “to make our neighborhoods safer” through “strong partnerships” with first responders and law enforcement.

“Development has stalled,” she wrote, promising an environment that welcomes business. “We’ve lost critical retailers, and our tax base is stretched thin.”

The city’s housing stock, she noted, was too expensive and needed an infusion of public, affordable and market-rate units. Finally, under the title “Defending Our Neighbors,” she wrote: “I am a refugee and know the stakes are high for our immigrant neighbors. I will actively rise to meet the moment and not just passively respond.”

Voters in the five-way mayor’s race welcomed her message and propelled her to the corner office of City Hall as St. Paul’s 47th mayor. She is scheduled to be sworn into on Friday in a pair of back-to-back ceremonies at the International Institute of Minnesota on Como Avenue and St. Catherine University’s O’Shaughnessy Auditorium on Randolph Avenue.

Her first swearing-in — by invitation only — was to take place before a relatively intimate crowd of family, peers and Hmong leaders. Her becomes the first woman and first Hmong person to be elected mayor of St. Paul, where she had previously served as state representative since 2019.

Born in a bamboo hut

Her holds a bachelor of science degree in investment and finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a master’s of business administration from Northeastern University in Boston. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Education Leadership at the University of St. Thomas, studies she put on hold to run for mayor.

In her campaign materials, she described her journey from the mountains of Laos, where she was born in a bamboo hut, to the United States with her family when she was three years old. Her family lived in Illinois and Wisconsin before coming to St. Paul, where they gained prominence in the fast-growing Hmong community, pooling money with other Hmong refugees to launch one of the region’s first Southeast Asian-themed food distributors, as well as a restaurant off Rice Street and University Avenue.

Her grandfather had served as a colonel under Gen. Vang Pao during the CIA’s “Secret War” in Laos, and he became instrumental in founding the Lao Family Community of Minnesota, a non-profit that assisted early waves of Hmong refugees in the U.S.

As an adult, she spent 15 years in the financial services industry, focusing on budget analytics for Securian, then known as Minnesota Life, and American Express. She then became a stay-at-home mom for the two children, now grown, that she has with her husband, Kong, before returning to the workforce as a grants director for the St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation, a board administrator with the St. Paul Public Schools and then a policy director for St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, a role she held for the early part of his first term.

As Carter’s policy director, she helped lead two of his signature initiatives: the effort to establish a citywide $15 minimum wage and launch CollegeBound St. Paul, which connects each of the city’s newborns to college savings accounts. She soon found herself spending more time away from City Hall after winning election to the role of state representative for House District 64A. Her, a DFLer who served as deputy speaker pro tempore, resigned from the House on Nov. 17, two weeks after winning the mayoral election.

Transition

Her has said she will maintain the city’s existing department directors for the time being as she evaluates the fit of Carter’s top staff and other programming initiatives.

Her’s mayoral campaign did not focus heavily on the future of Grand Casino Arena in downtown St. Paul, though she was critical of how the mayor’s unfulfilled ask for $400 million in state bond funds for an arena remodel rolled out before state lawmakers last session.

In a recent interview with Kare 11, Her said she was open to drawing the Timberwolves and the Lynx basketball teams to St. Paul, and that there had been some “some great introductory conversations” and “I look forward to future conversations” with team co-owner Alex Rodriguez.

Carter, the city’s first Black mayor and its youngest when he was first elected in 2017, led across years of pandemic and political upheaval with a progressive agenda that launched new city offices and cabinet-level positions. They included the Office of Financial Empowerment, to oversee CollegeBound St. Paul and other anti-poverty efforts, and the Office of Neighborhood Safety, which coordinates grants to community agencies that provide pre-emptive outreach to crime-prone areas as an early alternative to police response.

Carter was advised by a chief resilience officer who coordinated the city’s energy-saving and environmental initiatives, including the city’s involvement with the Evie electric carsharing network, a partnership with HourCar and the city of Minneapolis. The mayor forgave library fines and worked to establish new micro-neighborhoods at Highland Bridge in Highland Park and The Heights off Larpenteur Avenue and McKnight Road, where development has moved forward in stops and starts.

Carter also oversaw the roll-out of a voter-approved rent stabilization ordinance, or rent control, which many critics have since blamed for adding to the hodgepodge of issues stalling residential real estate development citywide. The mayor and city council later amended the ordinance, crafting key exceptions to it, before eliminating rent control entirely this past May for housing constructed after 2004.

Her has said she did not vote for rent control when it went to ballot in 2021, though she did not actively campaign against it.

As one of his final acts in office, Carter this week appointed Greg Duren as interim fire chief.

The outgoing mayor joined U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in a countdown to ring in the New Year with a giant disco-themed puck drop in Rice Park shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday, which was followed by a lengthy fireworks display. The event was coordinated with the World Juniors Ice Hockey Championships, an international tournament that concludes Jan. 5.